Chapter 621

A few hours later, Daphne's face cracks into a wide yawn and Jesse, sitting next to her on the couch, reaches out and pats her knee.

"Come on, lady detective," he says, getting to his feet and offering a hand. "Let's get you to bed."

"The party's not done though," she protests, yawning again as she casts a hand out to where the rest of the group is lounging around the room, the conversation now quieter, more subdued.

"Oh, it will be done as soon as Ariel finally falls asleep into that eighth bowl of ice cream," Jesse murmurs, gesturing over at where his cousin's head is nodding, her finger slipping away from the spoon. "Which will be in about eight seconds."

Daphne laughs and takes Jesse's hand. He turns to her at the touch, giving her a brilliant smile and pulling her to her feet.

"You know I don't need an escort," Daphne says, smoothing her hands down over her skirts. "I can make it downstairs by myself - no one bothers me."

"Oh, come on," Jesse says, reaching his hands high above his head and fighting his own yawn. "Give me a chance to stretch these long-ass legs." "Are they long?" Daphne asks, looking curiously down at Jesse's lower half and then bursting into a blush when he laughs, realizing she might have been rude.

"Yes, they're long," he says, starting towards the door and gesturing for her to follow. "The rest of the Sinclairs are all long and muscled torso, but my mother gave me these damn stilts. I'm like a crane."

Daphne laughs softly, grinning and following Jesse to the door. Calls of goodbye and goodnight follow them towards the door and Daphne waves over her shoulder, taking particular care to meet Rafe's eyes - his rather sad gaze as he, too, waves after her.

The hallway is quiet as the two make their way down it, their shoes echoing off the stone. "Did you have a good night?" Jesse asks, smiling softly down at Daphne as they wind their way down the stairs, his hands tucked neatly behind his back.

"I did," she says, looking up at him. "I was excited for Ariel and..." she hesitates for a second, looking down at her feet, "glad to see Rafe again. I..... want to be friends."

Jesse makes a soft noise in the back of his throat, understanding.

They walk a few more feet in silence, Jesse giving Daphne her space, before she suddenly goes still, a little “oh!” escapes her mouth.

"What?" Jesse asks, turning back towards her at the bottom of the stairs. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing!" she says, her hands moving up to cover her mouth as she closes the few steps between them, her expression guilty. "I just - I totally forgot! I wanted to congratulate you on developing your magic!"

Jesse's face bursts into a wide smile. "Ariel couldn't keep her mouth shut about that, could she?"

Daphne grins back at him, dropping her hand from her mouth. "Was it a secret? She's just very proud of you, Jess. Knew I'd be too."

"You're proud of me?" he asks, his smile growing bashful.

Daphne nods, deep and slow, tucking her own hands behind her back. "Will you show me what it does?"

"Um," Jesse says, running a hand through his hair and looking around. "Yeah, sure...come...come over here."

Impulsively, he grabs Daphne's hand and tugs her down the hall after him. She laughs, eagerly following, and is surprised when they reach a window seat tucked into a corner next to a tower staircase. "Oh, I didn't know this was here..."

"I've passed it a few times," Jesse says, sitting down sideways and patting the other side of the long cushion before him, moonlight

streaming in through the glass

panes on his right. "There's always some Ambassador Cadet sitting here studying, though. Hogging it.”

Daphne eagerly sits down across from him, nodding. "Stupid nerds," she murmurs, making Jesse laugh. "So, what...happens?" she asks, a little anxious, looking him over like the magic is going to explode from him any second now.

"What did Ariel tell you?" he asks, turning his head and studying her, his eyes lingering on the soft skin of her cheek, blushing apricot in the just

moonlight. His jaw clenches,

subtly, as he tucks his fingers beneath his leg, stilling them.

"Um," Daphne says, her blue eyes going distant as she thinks back, the fingers of one hand reaching up to. twine absently in the ends of her curls. "Nothing, actually – just that it developed." She blinks back to the current moment, meeting his gaze. "I think she wanted you to be able to tell me yourself.”

"Ariel,” Jesse says, one corner of his mouth curling up. "Such a peach. Okay...um, I'm going to show you now but...don't get freaked out." "Why?" Daphne asks, sitting up straight. "Is it...scary?"

“A little bit,” Jesse says with half a grimace, no part of him wanting this perfect girl to be scared of any part of him – not for a minute, not at all. “But I'll make it be nice, okay?"noveldrama

“Okay,” Daphne says, relaxing a little and giving Jesse half a smile. "I trust you."

Jesse drops his eyes, his mouth working hard against his smile. But then he concentrates, exhaling slowly and holding out his hands between them.

Daphne's eyes go wide and she can't help her little gasp when the air darkens in his palms and then shadows begin to swirl. He glances up at her, worried, but keeps going when he sees her shock turn to fascination and then delight.